News: Around the World

Pyeongchang, South Korea: According to BBC Sport, Russia has been banned from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee. This follows an extensive investigation regarding state-sponsored doping of competing athletes at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

Jerusalem, Israel: As reported by Reuters, President Trump expressed the will to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is contrary to the decades-old U.S. policy to keep the embassy out of the contentious region. Trump wants to move the embassy despite the fact that the U.S. has not endorsed Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital, which would ultimately reverse the policy that the city’s status has to be deliberated upon via negotiations with the Palestinians.

Southern California, U.S.: On Tuesday, Dec. 5, according to NBC, more than 27,000 people in Southern California were evacuated as a result of a massive wildfire that was only worsened by high winds and extremely dry conditions.

London, England: Fox News reported that on Tuesday, a report came out regarding an Islamic terror plot to assassinate the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, thus thwarting the plan. The report states that, “the plan was to launch some sort of improvised explosive device at Downing Street and in the ensuing chaos attack and kill Theresa May.”

Sana’a, Yemen: The Huffington Post reported that violence has escalated in the country following the death of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s former authoritarian president. He was killed by political rivals of the regime on Monday, Dec. 4, and has maintained a powerful force of armed supporters since he was forced to step down from office in 2012 after his 33 years in power.